Chapter 632: Everyday Life

Under the parasol-tree grove, everything was silent.

Daylight filtered down through the gaps in the canopy, like a boundary line between light and shadow, cutting the two of them apart.

Milne shifted his face slightly away from the side being struck by direct sunlight, narrowing his eyes as he carefully sized up the man sitting on the bench in the shade.

Confusion.

That was his first reaction.

This man who looked like he’d just come back from being ruthlessly ravaged, weak all over, steps floating, unable to even stand straight—was he really the duke’s son Muen Campbell, the one Sevier kept telling him to be careful of?

But very quickly, that confusion was answered, because that face—so famous, so handsome, the source of countless tabloid stories—those signature golden locks, and the aristocratic bearing that still slipped out unconsciously with every gesture, all told him one thing without exception—

That was Muen Campbell.

The greatest enemy on this trip, the imperial empress’s current fiancé, Muen Campbell.

And this greatest enemy, the empress’s fiancé—when the empress herself was about to personally come watch this exchange meet—judging by how he looked... he’d just crawled out of a woman’s bed?

At such a critically important moment, he’d actually spent the entire night indulging in sex with a woman?

How stupid. How laughable.

No vigilance, no sense of crisis, no sense of the bigger picture—completely a fool who believed the fiancé position couldn’t be shaken, relying on his status to do whatever he pleased! Did he really think a dignified empress would turn a blind eye to this?

From Milne’s understanding of so-called “emperors,” the more someone sat in that supreme position, the less they could tolerate being offended!

And Muen Campbell’s behavior—how was it any different from the rumors, that man who stepped on who knew how many boats at once, drowned in women, a useless playboy who achieved nothing?

So after the confusion, Milne felt another kind of emotion—one that made him unhappy.

“You’ve disappointed me.”

Milne pushed off from the tree he’d been leaning on, still with his arms crossed, and coldly said to Muen,

“Sevier values you so much. I originally thought you’d be an opponent worthy of me going all out. But I didn’t expect... you’d be this pathetic.”

“Huh?”

Getting cursed out of nowhere, Muen blinked, completely baffled.

“Looks like I really did overthink it. You might not even be qualified to become my stepping-stone!”

Milne snorted, then flicked his sleeve and turned to leave. “I hope you’ll struggle a little harder. Don’t let this game end so easily, or I won’t feel even the slightest joy of victory.”

“...Huh?”

Watching Milne drop his harsh words and walk off on his own, Muen only got more baffled, scratching his head.

Never mind what all that crap he said even meant...

“At the end of the day... who the hell are you?”

He didn’t even know the guy, and this lunatic ran over acting cool while saying a bunch of incomprehensible nonsense.

And then he ran off before even finishing?

Did some idiot escape from a mental hospital or something?

You know this is asking to get punched, right?

Muen shook his head. Even though it was inexplicable, he still chose not to argue with an idiot, and got up to head back to the dorm.

But he hadn’t taken more than two steps when another call rang out.

“Muen, junior.”

But this time the voice was familiar, and it wasn’t some idiot.

“Senior Fanny?”

Muen looked in surprise at the pretty senior coming over from the other side. He froze for a moment, then smiled.

“It really has been a long time. Why are you here?”

Senior Fanny—who had once had plenty of exchanges with Muen, and had even participated in the Saintess Trials with him—greeted him in an easy, familiar way.

“Long time no see. As for why I’m here... I just happened to run into you. I was passing by.”

Senior Fanny tipped her head, gesturing behind her. The direction at the end of the path led straight to the academy’s residential area, so bumping into each other here wasn’t strange at all.

“You’re going to the exchange meet too?” Muen asked.

“Yes.”

Fanny nodded, smiling as she answered, “But I didn’t expect I’d be able to meet, right here, the two most eye-catching people in this two-nation exchange.”

“The two most eye-catching people?”

Muen paused, then suddenly realized.

“Oh. So that idiot just now was the kingdom’s seventeenth prince? No—if he’s the seventeenth prince, then his behavior isn’t that hard to understand. Barely... he’s not quite an idiot.”

Muen stroked his chin.

Was he here to scout the enemy?

But... his timing was kind of awful.

“Muen, junior, you actually didn’t know who he was?”

Seeing that Muen truly didn’t know who the other party was, Fanny couldn’t help making a strange face. She stifled a laugh and said, “He’s at least your ‘love rival.’ Supposedly he came specifically to compete with you, the empress’s fiancé, so you should pay at least a little attention.”

“Haha. I’ve been busy lately. I really didn’t have time to learn what that so-called Milne looks like.”

Muen laughed along. “As for a love rival... if Celicia so much as looks at him one extra time, I’ll count it as my loss. So that guy probably doesn’t even qualify.”

“You’re actually calling Her Majesty by name...”

Fanny lifted a brow, her expression instantly turning meaningful.

“I remember you were the same with little Liya back then... and now Her Highness the Saintess as well...”

“Ahem, ahem!”

Knowing very well this topic would get dangerous if it continued, Muen hurriedly coughed a few times to cut Senior Fanny off, changing the subject.

“By the way, are you alone, Senior Fanny?”

“No, of course it’s not just me. There’s also—”

“And us, too!”

The bushes beside Senior Fanny rustled, and then three adorable little heads stuffed with leaves suddenly popped out.

“Good morning, Mr. Muen!”

Muen jumped, because even with °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° his level of sharp senses, he hadn’t noticed at all that people were actually hiding in the bushes not far away—three people, at that.

“So it really is you guys—the three little ones who cheered me on before. You’re called... Emma, Amy, Alva, right!”

“I can’t believe Mr. Muen, the one I stan, still remembers our names—ah, we have no regrets in this life!”

Senior Fanny gave Muen an apologetic smile, then walked over and gave each of them a merciless iron hammer.

“How many times have I told you—can you fix this habit of yours, always crawling into bushes and tall grass?”

“Ow! Fanny, what nonsense are you talking about—this is our hard-trained stealth skill! As paparazzi—no, as loyal fans, how can we not master stealth skills?”

Emma clutched her head and shouted angrily, “And I’m the president!”

“Exactly, exactly!” Amy chimed in. “This is a required skill, not some habit!”

“That’s right! And Fanny even hit the president—too much!” Alva yelled along.

“You, president, don’t seem to handle anything at all! And you three—besides fooling around, what else can you do?”

Senior Fanny’s forehead veins jumped, and then she gave each of them another hit.

You could tell that even though it had only been a few months since they’d last met, her attitude toward these three little ones had clearly become much more irritable.

Looks like she hadn’t been “tortured” any less in daily life.

“You’re really close.”

Watching this “harmonious” scene, Muen also unconsciously put on a kindly auntie-like smile.

The smile spread across his handsome face, sunlight dotting it, and in that instant, the three little ones stared blankly again.

“C-Can we take another photo?” Emma asked.

“Don’t use it to do weird things.”

“Relax, I’ll just make a few hundred copies and then—ah, that hurts! Damn it, Fanny, why are you hitting me again? Hit me again and I’ll punish you in the name of the president—aaah!”

“Don’t listen to their nonsense. They already have enough sneak shots.”

Fanny pulled her fist back, then grabbed the three little ones in one handful so they couldn’t run wild. Then she bent at the waist apologetically toward Muen.

“Sorry. These three little girls haven’t seen you in too long, so they got a bit too excited.”

“It’s fine.”

Muen waved it off. “I was just a little startled. Last time I saw them, they were so shy, but now...”

“Heh heh, now I have to preach doctrine to so many believers every day, of course...”

“Believers? Doctrine?”

Muen looked at Emma in confusion, only to see Fanny slap a hand over her mouth.

“Haha, it’s nothing. This little girl started believing in the goddess recently, so she’ll accidentally start talking about religious content.”

“The goddess really is a good object of faith. Holy Light is useful too.”

“Right... then we’ll be leaving first. Muen, junior, you also need...”

Fanny’s expression got even stranger as she swept Muen with a look. “To make some preparations ahead of time, right? After all, today you still have to trade blows with someone.”

“Haha, yeah...”

“Then goodbye, Muen, junior.”

“See you in a bit. You too.”

Their voices faded.

Leaves rustled. On the small path flecked with broken sunlight, Fanny dragged the three little ones away at a quick pace, leaving only a faint trace of indignation lingering where they’d been.

Watching their backs disappear, Muen suddenly had a feeling he couldn’t quite describe.

“This is what they call everyday life, huh. So leisurely and quiet—like I suddenly turned into an old man, and everything slowed down.”

He lightly whistled, pleasure rising from deep in his chest, hoping this moment could last a little longer.

“Not bad.”

...

...

At the academy—central arena platform, guest lounge.

There wasn’t much time left before the exchange was scheduled to begin. Celicia finally arrived at the prepared venue at an unhurried pace, with no one following her at all.

Even without attendants, and even though as the empress she wore only a simple long white gauze dress, her presence was still cold and noble—icily beautiful, untouchable.

By now, most of the participants had basically arrived, and they had even waited a while. But because of Celicia’s status, no one could say anything about it. Instead, they considered it perfectly normal and greeted her respectfully.

“Your Majesty looks to be in good spirits. Did something good happen?”

After Hertz finished paying his respects, he keenly noticed Celicia looked a little rosier than usual, and he asked probingly.

“Not bad.”

Celicia glanced at Hertz as if she hadn’t noticed his little intention, and said coolly, neither warm nor cold,

“I dealt with a certain someone who acted disrespectfully and dared to be reckless. My mood really has improved a lot.”

“Someone actually dared offend Your Majesty within the academy grounds? That’s truly unexpected.”

Hertz stroked his beard and offered a sincere suggestion. “If it’s that kind of vile villain, then they really should be dealt with properly. Your Majesty mustn’t be softhearted.”

Heh heh... sure enough, his suspicion about discord within the empire was becoming more and more credible.

“Lord Hertz doesn’t need to worry. My private affairs—I will naturally handle them properly myself.”

Celicia’s tone turned slightly cold.

“I overstepped.”

Hertz put on a show of panic as he apologized, but his mood was excellent. Turning his head, he happened to see Milne had returned as well.

“How was it?”

Using an excuse to step aside, he quickly called Milne over.

“Did you see that Muen Campbell?”

“I saw him.”

Milne glanced toward Sevier not far away. Only after confirming she wasn’t paying attention to this side did he lower his voice and say,

“To be honest, I was very disappointed.”

“Disappointed?” Hertz froze.

“He has many rumors, and there are also many rumors about those rumors being just rumors. True and false are hard to distinguish. But after seeing him in person, you can tell some rumors really are true.”

“Speak plainly.”

Getting dizzy from all those “rumors,” Hertz frowned and said,

“Which rumors are true?”

“Lustful, spoiled, playboy, addicted to women... even the kind of thing like stepping on several boats at once has credibility. When I found him just now, he actually looked like he’d just crawled out of a woman’s bed.”

“Just crawled out of a woman’s bed?”

Hertz said in surprise, “At a time like this? Does he have no sense of urgency at all? If we humiliate him in public, forget losing face—there’s even a real chance he won’t be able to keep the position of the empress’s fiancé. Doesn’t he know our purpose?”

“Maybe he knows, but he simply doesn’t care.”

Milne sneered. “He thinks his position is secure. But he doesn’t realize that as long as we poke this kind of thing to that empress, his position will definitely shake. That empress is a woman too—she definitely won’t pretend she didn’t see something like this.”

“No.”

Hertz lifted a hand. “Doing that would indeed breed conflict, but it would also provoke the empire’s empress’s displeasure. It’s her private affair. We can’t be the bad guy. Just act like we didn’t see it.”

“I know. I’m not so stupid as to do something like that.”

...

...

“This is what they call war.”

At the duel venue that had long since been prepared, Hertz lifted his head, looking at the lively crowd all around. Thinking about the great matter he and his student were about to accomplish, blazing fighting spirit suddenly burned up in his chest. Even his hunched waist and back seemed to straighten a great deal.

“So blood-pumping it makes you boil, like I’ve become decades younger... not bad!”